High-tech equipment manufacturer Manz sees “significant opportunities for growth” in both its solar and energy storage business segments, according to statements released to accompany first quarter results for 2015.
Manz is active in three main areas: electronics, solar and energy storage. Of the three, only electronics saw revenues drop compared to the first quarter of 2014, reporting €19.3 million (US$21.75 million) for Q1 2015, compared to €29.6 million for the same period last year.
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In contrast, solar sales leaped almost threefold. After the firm was forced to write down its solar business to the tune of €22.5 million following its full-year 2014 results, revenues remain relatively modest, but went from just €2.4 million in Q1 2014 to €6.9 million in the quarter just past.
Meanwhile energy storage including capacitors and lithium-ion batteries jumped from revenues of just €1.2 million in the first quarter of last year to €16.5 million in Q1 2015.
Also interesting is the fact that while electronics accounted for more than 50% of Manz’s revenues in the first quarter of 2014, the solar and energy storage segments have since taken a good portion of this share. From forming 54.7% of company revenues in Q1 2014, electronics made up 35.8% in Q1 2015, while solar increased its share of revenues from 4.5% to 12.8% and energy storage went from just 2.3% of revenues to 30.6%.
The company nonetheless described the start of the year as challenging, due to “the volatility and the cyclical character” of the three main growth markets it is involved in. Sales activities and the integration of an Italian subsidiary cost the company money, as did the unfavourable direction foreign currency exchange rates moved in from Manz’s perspective.
Overall therefore, the company made an EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation) loss of €6.4 million compared to a modest €0.2 million of positive EBITDA reported in the same quarter last year. Company founder and CEO Dieter Manz however said that performance for the rest of the year would be bolstered by some orders postponed in the first quarter of 2015 that are still expected to go ahead.
“…these projects will have a positive effect in the following quarters,” Manz said.
“In view of an order backlog of currently €92 million, we therefore continue unchanged to be confident for the full year.”
“In view of the positive outlook in the target markets relevant for Manz AG, the Managing Board sees significant opportunities for growth in all three strategic business segments,” a statement released by Manz this morning said.
According to the statement, the company has sufficient liquid capital, around €62 million, to be able to “systematically take advantage of growth opportunities,” forecasting total revenues of between €320 million and €340 million for the year, with what Manz said would be a “very positive” EBITDA situation.
Manz recently began transferring its crystalline technology segment to its Chinese subsidiaries, while in an interview with PV Tech in December Dieter Manz said he was confident that thin-film will take over the lion’s share of the global solar industry in the long term and was backing the technology for its greater scope for cost reduction than crystalline solar cells. The company unveiled a CIGS cell that hit a record efficiency of 16% at the recent SNEC show in China, although that record was broken just a day later by Taiwanese company TSMC with a 16.5% efficiency “commercial-sized” CIGS cell.